BT apologises for road closure mix-up in Denny after business is “cut off”

Drove Loan, near Denny, was closed without warning by contractors working on behalf of BT

Chris McCall

A business owner has hit out at BT after the company “cut off” his shop for five days by closing a road without warning to carry out utility works.

Stephen Miller, who owns a coffee shop and holiday cottages at Home Farm, near Denny, claims he received no warning that Drove Loan would be closed to traffic.

A section of the road, from Head of Muir to Drove Loan Crescent, was shut last week before re-opening on Tuesday.

Contractors working on behalf of BT Openreach were laying fibre optic cable as part of a national rollout of broadband internet connections.

“It’s cost us thousands,” said Mr Miller. “We should have been informed by letter at the very least. Workmen were on site three days before the road was closed, they had plenty of time to warn us that it would be closed to traffic.

“We’ve been cut off. Customers have not been able to get near us.”

A spokesman for BT told The Falkirk Herald that the company was sorry for any inconvenience the utilities work had caused.

“The usual process is that we would contact local residents in the case of a road closure, usually at the request of the council,” he said.

“However as this was an emergency situation it did not happen in this instance.

“This work was planned to be completed under two-way traffic lights but, while the work was in progress, it was deemed unsafe to complete the work under two-way lights and a road closure was required.